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And now for a new feature. Any teen/young adult book I review that I think my marvellous fifteen-year-old sister Zoë would like I will pass on to her, pester her to read it and then interview her about it. Read my Red Rising review here (it’s safe to say we disagree) – then read #real! #teen! #opinions! below.

What did you think of Red Rising?

I thought it was a BRILLIANT book! It kept me completely hooked all the way through – I adore it! It’s got a very prominent theme of revolution that you can’t help but be dragged into – you really feel like a part of a story. Would you say it’s well written?

It’s very well written for the style that it’s in and it gives a really good reflection of the main character so you understand him really well.

Also the writer created slang for the situation and words that make you adjust to that culture, which I liked because it gives you a new world and experience within pages which is really cool.

And then the structure of it works really well. The main character Darrow goes through a complete transformation but you still know that it’s the same character all the way through as we’re always given little reminders of who he once was.

What was your favourite bit?

The bit that got me most emotionally was when Pax died, but that wasn’t my favourite as I was sad! My favourite bit is probably when Darrow sees Mustang hiding, and is being followed by someone else from House Mars, but he lets her go.

It’s my favourite because straight afterwards you move on and forget about it, but it comes back as an important moment when Darrow is abandoned and on his own. There are loads of these – hidden bits of plot that come back.

What are you looking forward to in the next book?

I’m very excited! I’m excited to see more of Sevro, because that would be good and interesting – I think he’s going to become more of a prominent character. I hope it doesn’t lose sight of Darrow though!

Do you think it did a good job of portraying a teenage mindset?

Well, it’s showing a very different experience in a very different culture, so it did feel a bit more like Darrow was in his 20s, but I think that’s intended because he’s always talking about the people he’s around as children and never refers to himself as a child.

I think Darrow’s mindset of a child grown up too quickly is portrayed really well, because he’s learnt the hard way about how life is. The anger that drives him I think is a very teenage thing! I think that’s done really well.

Has it made you look at life differently?

It’s made me not satisfied with any other book! Erm, it has made made me look at groups of people and the way that we say stereotypes are false and that we shouldn’t live by the them – but then it is actually often the case that they are true, and that affects us.

Who is your favourite character?

I want to be Mustang, but my favourite character is definitely Pax.

I love that Mustang pulls through and that Darrow didn’t need to doubt her. But then I find it difficult that Darrow relates her to Eo so much, which is good because you want the relationship to thrive – but still you don’t want him to forget about Eo. And you want them to be together BUT she’s a gold, and what about when the revolution comes?

What do you think about the relationships between the different colours?

It’s clever the way that the author makes it so that Darrow is focusing on the exceptions: his relationship a friend who is a gold and the fact that he calls him brother – you forget that they’re different colours, you lose yourself in the pure humanity of people instead of their colours. And you wish you could apply that to real life a couple of hundred of years ago in our world.

How does it compare to Hunger Games?

I think it’s too different to Hunger Games to compare – it’s completely different! People might think it’s similar BUT it’s not – read them both and you’ll see what I mean.